City schools and colleges do their bit to conserve water

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Water shortage in the city has always been a matter of concern and with the summer fast approaching, people are already looking at ways and means to conserve water. As the city braces for the hot weather, educational institutions across the city have been doing their bit to save water. We find out more…
Rain Water Harvesting, STPs in placeA number of colleges and schools in the city are equipped with Rain Water Harvesting (RWH), Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), open wells and more and have been doing their bit. “We have RWH system in place. Our international campus and the ICSE buildings have been connected to the storage tanks where rain water is collected. Similarly, we also have STPs in place where the sanitary water is collected, treated and used for gardening purposes,” says Aloysius D’Mello, Principal of Greenwood High.
Other colleges have also been utilizing water from their RWH system. “RWH is done for the recharge of prime water. Water is accumulated on the roof top or the terrace area, is then streamed down through pipes and connected to one individual well. MVJ College of Engineering has 12 recharge wells, which stores water and sends it across to the ground. This is done to improve the ground water level and even borewell water level,” says Brindha M, vice principal of MVJ College of Engineering.

Saving water at every stepIn addition to these, colleges also make the most of the water is let out after the RO. “We have rooftop harvesting and groundwater recharging set up at St Joseph’s College (SJC), through which we conserve rain water. The water from this system is then used for gardening and in the labs. We also have a system in place that gathers the discarded water from the water filters, which is stored in water tanks. This is then used to wash the dishes in the canteen and to water the gardens,” says Ebenezer Wilson, Associate Professor, Department of Environment Science, SJC, adding that the college manages to save up to 100 gallons every month.
While many colleges have RWH, STP systems, some of the newer methods include sprinkler systems, as seen in many educational institutions. “The college also has a sprinkler system in place, which helps in saving a large amount of water in the college campus,” says Brindha.

Creating awareness among studentsWhile colleges and schools do their bit to save water, creating awareness among students is also given a lot of importance. “We educate students not to leave taps open. It is essential for them to learn because learning starts in schools. Repetition of a particular idea reinforces it in the child’s mind. We also have prefects manning the taps, so that students don’t waste water,” says Aloysius.
Awareness campaigns have also been conducted at many colleges to sensitize students about the impending water crisis. “Recently, the college had organized a marathon titled Neerathon, which was all about creating awareness on water shortage,” says Ebenezer.

Preventive measures need to be implemented Replacing flushes, which waste a lot of water, with those that require minimum water can be adopted and utilizing water from the labs can also be a great option, says teachers. “Since a lot of labs in colleges, especially the biological sciences labs, do not utilize water like a Chemistry lab does, the waste water generated can be stored and recycled for several purposes,” says Ebenezer.
Brindha agrees and says that STP treatment can be used, which are actually very helpful for garden area and bathroom purposes.